Crossakiel handball club reopens
November 27, 2010Tuesday November 10th 2009 will go down in history as this was the day the club held a meeting to form a committee and open the alley once again after sadly a number of years where no activity in the club took place. The meeting was chaired by Niamh Egan Promotions & Media Officer in Croke Park and Steven Quinn was elected Chairman.
Eugene O'Reilly became a fully fledged Crossakiel man after having done great work in the Abbeylara Club. Eugene is continuing this great work with the club and has 20 Juvenile players training regularly in the club. Eugene himself continues to be the Club's most successful player. This year he teamed up with Kells player Peter Flanagan in the Junior B doubles and reached two Leinster finals in the process in both 40x20 and 60x30.
O'Reilly conquers Canada
Eugene and Peter travelled to Burlington Ontario to take part in the Canadian Nationals from May 19th-22nd last and in a brilliant achievement Eugene took home two Canadians in the Men's C grade. The pair took the doubles and the Canadian singles final was an all Meath final with the Crossakiel club man coming out on top. Michael Gaynor represented Crossakiel in the Junior Hardball Championships and performed well on his first competitive outing before falling to Galway's Kevin Craddock in straight games.
Farrell outstanding
Kells hosted the Michael Black invitational tournament for Junior Masters last July and Mark Farrell went all the way to win the final with Westmeath's Robbie McCarthy snr. It was a brilliant achievement for.
McGee win's Connacht title
Club PRO and Sligo Handball Secretary Michael McGee created more club history when winning the Connacht Masters B doubles title with Sligo's Martin Cooney. It was the first adult title for the club in its 90 year history. McGee and Cooney travelled to Kells to take on Joe Lynch and Christy McGovern. However Joe and Christy were in sparkling form and won quite easily on the day fully deserving their victory.
McGee Tournament
Crossakiel travelled to Collooney Sligo on September 10th last for a tournament sponsored by Michael McGee. It was a fantastic weekend for the club players who defeating a strong Sligo side by 160-155. Crossakiel were represented by Steven Quinn, Mark, John and Vinny Farrell, Michael Gaynor, Eugene Reilly, and Michael McGee lined out with his old club mates on the day. The Club unveiled its new sponsored P. Carney playing shirts in Sligo and it made quite an impression. Some photos of the Sligo trip are on the entrance wall to the club's handball court.
One week after the Sligo trip members turned out in force to paint the alley in advance of the McDermott Cup competition. The wet drizzly conditions outside that persisted most of the day did not dampen the spirits inside. Steven Quinn, David Reilly, Mark, John and Vinny Farrell, Michael Gaynor, Fergus Higgins, Eddie Brady and Michael McGee all worked hard in getting the court ready.
McConnell and Reilly magnificent in McDermott Cup final
Sixteen teams entered in Tournament. The Cup has not been played for since 1996. Crossakiel were represented by Michael Gaynor and Eugene Reilly who were unlucky not to have beaten Leitrim's Eddie Lee and Jamie Murray. They looked well in control but couldn't deliver the knock out punch and the Leitrim men clinched it by 31-28 in the end. Michael McGee partnered Francis McCann Sligo but suffered an agonizing 31-30 defeat to Kells Anthony McConnell and Jimmy Reilly. Pat McCabe played with another Sligo player Mark Murphy but lost out in round 2.
James Reilly and Kevin Reilly also make it past round 1. Steven Quinn and Mark Farrell were surprisingly beaten by Kilkenny's Dan Breen and Ger McGrath. Vinny and John Farrell were very unlucky not to have qualified for the Plate final just losing out 31-30 against Louth's Sean Devlin and John Kelly after a great battle.
It was a tournament dominated by our neighbours from Kells. Christy McGovern and John Boy Molloy defeated Anthony McConnell and Jimmy Reilly 31-18 in the first semi while in the other semi Gary McConnell and Peter Reilly had an easy win over Breen and McGrath. Just before the final the Official opening took place and Frank Reilly, Mrs McEachen and Richard McDermott had the honour of cutting the tape to reopen the club.
Shortly afterwards we were treated to an absolutely astonishing final. The game had everything in it long rallies, pin point roll outs, excellent retrieving. It is a tribute to all four players Gary McConnell, Peter Reilly, John Boy Molloy and Christy McGovern who all gave an exhibition of what is great about the games. McConnell was outstanding and nothing passed him while Reilly also proving very effective on the right. After nearly two hours of handball the young guns of McConnell and Reilly had beaten the masters by 21-11, 14-21, 21-11. Richard McDermott presented the Jimmy McDermott Cup for 2010 to Gary McConnell and Peter Reilly. John Reilly, local business man and Club Secretary, kindly sponsored the trophies. The club can be very proud of their efforts and the handball court was back to its very best. The ladies committee had enough refreshments that would have fed the population of Crossakiel and Kells for a week. The Jimmy McDermott Tournament 2010 will go down in the club's history books and the exploits of McConnell, Reilly, McGovern and Molloy will live long in the memory.
Crossakiel Handball Alley wins Prestigious Award
Last September the Club won "The Pride of Place Award 2010" from the Meath County Council. It is an award greatly richly deserved by the club and members worked hard restoring the club to its former glory.
Juveniles
There were wins for Gary Reilly and Sarah McDermott in Club's first Juvenile event.
The Club held its first tournament for the Juveniles on Sunday December 27th last. As it turned out Gary Reilly beat Ricky McDermott by 21-5 in the boys final while Ricky's sister Sarah won the girls round robin final. James Baugh, Johnny Reilly, Jack Tunney, Hugh McCaffrey, Eoghan McCabe, Thomas Briody, Deborah McCabe, Aoife Tunney, Sarah McDermott, Gary Reilly and Ricky McDermott all participated in the Christmas competition. The competition took place about four weeks after Eugene took over the coaching duties.
The Meath Juvenile 60x 0 trials took place in Crossakiel and there were wins for Johnny Reilly in the U15 final when he beat Colin McGovern (Kells) by 15-13, 15-3. While in the U16 final it was an all Crossakiel clash with Gary Reilly defeated James Baugh by 15-9, 15-10. John Reilly, Gary Reilly and James Baugh all represented Meath in the first round of the Leinster championships v Kildare in Kells on Tuesday 20th July last. Gary Reilly and James Baugh had an agonizing one point defeat to Kildare opponents in the first round of Leinster while Johnny Reilly also came unstuck against Dublin's Niall McKenna. Cormac Gilsenan and Colin McGovern had a good first round win over Dublin in the Boys U15 doubles but lost to Wexford's Jack Roche and Stephen Greene by the narrow margin of 15-8, 8-15, 14-15 in the following round.
The U14/15 team championships consisting of Robert Fox, Evan Sheridan, Dylan Sheridan, Colin McGovern, Cormac Gilsenan and Johnny Reilly both Crossakiel suffered a narrow defeat to a stronger Carlow side, losing in the end by 26 aces after a solid performance from the Meath side.
Johnny Reilly defeated Jack Tunney in the plate Juvenile final of the McDermott Cup. Earlier that evening Reilly was a member of the Ballinlough U15 team that won the County final and congratulations to Johnny on his achievements on the football field.
This year has been a memorable year in the history of the club with provincial and international honours gained by our club players. A huge amount of work has been undertaken by the committee and this was very evident as members came out in big numbers to paint the alley on 18th September last. All the hard work undertaken really paid off as the court was in excellent playing condition for the McDermott Cup.
The Club would like to thank Paddy Carney Ltd who kindly sponsored the colourful club shirts. Fergal McCabe Publican, John Reilly and Hughie Reilly were also thanked for their generous support to the club this year.
The Crossakiel club is back and back to stay. It has been a very busy and successful year and everyone associated with the club can look forward with a great deal of optimism that 2011 will prove even better.
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